Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: HB-6235
Title: AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE "LEARN HERE, HEAL HERE" PROGRAM.
Vote Date: 3/22/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable Substitute
PH Date: 2/18/2021
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
REP. LINEHAN, 103rd Dist.
REP. CONLEY, 40th Dist.
REASONS FOR BILL:
To establish a tax rebate program to incentivize recently graduated psychiatrists to live and
offer services in Connecticut.
SUBSTITUTE LANGUAGE:
Bill has been restructured, thus all language is new language; however, the provisions
of the bill remain the same
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Adam Perrin, MD, Faculty Co-Director of Student Affairs and Assistant Professor of
Family Medicine, UConn Health:
Submitted written testimony in support. Dr. Perrin explains the economic and social benefits
delivered by UConn Health over the last ten years. He says the UConn School of Medicine
(SoM) is now educating more students than ever and class sizes are growing. Dr. Perrin
says, "Up to 70% of SOM medical student graduates stay in state to either pursue clinical
service as resident or subspecialty fellowship physicians or serve as providers in the State."
The SoM developed a loan and grant program for students and funded by the SoM and
philanthropy. Since 2016, eight students have received awards under this program. Dr. Perrin
says, "We applaud the Committees efforts through this bill and believe that any initiative that
creates incentive for our graduates to stay in greater numbers in Connecticut will be a
success."
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Rep. Linehan, 103rd District:
Gave oral testimony in support. Rep. Linehan expressed support for the bill and said that its
need is more apparent during this Pandemic. She said, Connecticut is woefully inadequate in
many aspects considering our mental health for children with only 37 Board-certified child
psychiatrists for all of Connecticut." Rep. Linehan continues, "[Connecticut Children's Medical
Center], who does suicide screening in their emergency rooms, they've now seen over a 10-
point jump in the last couple of months of children who have screened positive for risk of
suicide, and they're at close to 30%." She says that we were experiencing a mental health
emergency before and it has only been made worse by the pandemic. This can be addressed
by providing incentives for psychiatrists heal here.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
None expressed.
Reported by: Jeremy Salyer Date: 03/30/2021
Page 2 of 2 HB-6235


Statutes affected:
Committee Bill: 32-4i, 32-4k, 32-4j